Study investigating Covid-19 vaccine protection extended to young people

A study into how well additional doses of the Covid-19 vaccine protects immunosuppressed people is set to be extended to include young people following a recent funding extension.

The research project that was first launched in December of 2021 to evaluate third doses in adult patients was supported by a coalition of funders including Kidney Research UK, The Medical Research Council, Blood Cancer UK, Vasculitis UK and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and will now seek to examine the impact that the vaccines have on immunocompromised patients aged 12-17 years. 

Some smaller studies have suggested that immunocompromised people within this age group mount a stronger response to Covid-19 vaccinations than older immunosuppressed adults, but they are still thought to be more vulnerable than the general population.

Dr. Michelle Willicombe, the study lead at Imperial College London, said: “Information on how young, immunosuppressed people have responded to vaccination and the protection it affords them from infection is currently lacking, so we are delighted for the additional support so we can include children in MELODY to provide ongoing evidence. If we can understand more about how this group of people respond to vaccines, then this will inform future vaccination strategies and also identify those young people who are most at risk of catching Covid-19.”

Immunocompromised people have remained particularly vulnerable to the Covid-19 virus, leaving an estimated 500,000 people in the UK very much aware of their increased risk. The MELODY study was launched to provide vital insight into which patients remain vulnerable after vaccination, which will help to develop bespoke strategies for exiting the pandemic for those who continue to remain most vulnerable.

Dr. Aisling McMahon, executive director of research, innovation and policy at Kidney Research UK said: “We are starting to build a clearer picture on how vaccination has provided varying levels of protection within the immunosuppressed community, but we still have very little data on how well vaccines protect the younger members of this group. There cannot be a one size fits all approach to keeping all immunocompromised people safe and including data from this age group will allow for more effective strategies to be developed.”

Michelle and her team in London are aiming to recruit 1,000 immunocompromised transplant recipients between the ages of 12 and 17 years.